The Christmas Tree
by bellutrixlestrange
Summary: "James," Lily said. "That is the most pathetic Christmas tree I have ever seen."


"James," Lily said as she walked into the living room of their cottage. "What is that?"

"It's our Christmas tree," James answered.

"No, it's not," Lily said. "That's the most pathetic tree I've ever seen." The tree in question was less than two feet tall, and the needles were almost all brown. "When I told you to go pick out a Christmas tree, this was not what I meant."

"Shhh, you'll hurt it's feeling," James whispered.

"It hurts my feelings," Lily said. "Now can you please go get a new tree? An actual Christmas tree this time."

"No," James said, folding his arms across his chest.

Lily put her hands on her hips. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean no. We're not getting rid of Branchy."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Branchy? You named the tree?"

"Of course I didn't name the tree," James said, grinning. "Sirius named it."

"Well, Sirius can have the tree then," Lily said.

"Sirius and Remus already have a tree." James' grin widened.

"We are not keeping that pathetic excuse for a tree," Lily told her husband. "Either you can go get a new tree, or I'll go pick one out myself and have Remus help bring it back."

"Remus helped us pick this one out. He thought it had class."

"It's a dead pine sapling. In what world does that have class?" Lily asked.

James shrugged. "This one, apparently. Anyways, we're keeping the tree."

"James, it's our first Christmas together since we got married. Do you really want to have that," she pointed toward the little pine. "As our first Christmas tree?"

James smiled brightly. "Sure. It means things can only get better from here."

Lily cocked her head to the side. "I hadn't thought about it like that."

"Also I knew it would annoy you," James was grinning widely now.

"You're lucky I love you," Lily said indignantly. "Fine, we can keep the tree, but the minute Christmas ends, that tree is going into the fireplace."

* * *

It was Christmas Eve, and Lily and James were holding a small Christmas party. Lily had already heard no less than five comments about their "sad little tree." She was ready to pull her hair out, or possibly James', for agreeing to keep the tree and not picking out a new one. Ignoring it was easy, though, as long as nobody else acknowledged its existence.

"That's an interesting tree," Alice Longbottom, Lily's best friend, said as she walked up to the red-head. "How did you end up getting that one?"

Lily glared at the little tree. "James and his friends picked it out, and they wouldn't go get another one." Lily glared at the tree even harder. "Next year I'm going to pick out the tree myself to keep this from happening again."

Alice snorted. "Knowing those guys, you'll get a nice big tree, put it up, decorate it, and then the next morning you'll wake up to something just like this one."

Lily glanced across the room to where her husband was laughing and talking with the other Marauders and Frank Longbottom. "I think they would have to have a death wish to pull something like that."

"Well, nobody ever said they have common sense," Alice said. "I suggest using a sticking charm on your tree next year, just in case they try to do something."

"I'll ward the tree if I have to," Lily said. "You know James only got that tree because he knew it would piss me off?"

"Thank Merlin Frank isn't a prankster," Alice said with a chuckle. "It's bad enough that he's friends with them, I can't imagine what I'd do if he were one."

Lily let out a small laugh. "You would run for your life."

* * *

True to her word, the second the clock struck twelve on December 26, the tree found its way into the fireplace, much to James' horror.

"Lily, how could you?" James asked. "My own wife."

"I did warn you," Lily said, setting the tree ablaze. "Besides, the tree had it coming."

"That poor tree never did anything to you."

"It was an eyesore, and it deserved to be destroyed." Lily looked away from the flaming tree to stare at her husband. "Next year, we're getting a real tree."

"Branchy was a real tree," James said, mock sorrow filling his voice. "He was a good tree, and you killed him." He let out a fake sob.

Lily rolled her eyes at her husband's antics. "James, it was already dead. Leave the dramatics to Sirius. Besides, if it really means that much to you, you can get a new tree to plant in the backyard. Just make sure it's not a dead tree this time."

"Really?" James asked, voice filled with excitement.

Lily nodded. "Yes, really. Just try to keep it alive, and make sure it stays in the backyard."

"Lily, it's a plant, not a dog," he said.

"And you had a pet raspberry bush that followed you around Hogwarts for a month in our sixth year," she reminded him, smiling fondly at the memory of the plant trailing behind him as he went about his day. Professor Flitwick had awarded Gryffindor fifty points for James' excellent spellwork, and even the Slytherins could agree that he had deserved those points.

"Okay, so no pet trees. Got it." James said, nodding. "When can we go pick out the tree?"

"I suppose we can go tomorrow," Lily said. "I think it's about time to go to bed now, though, don't you?"

"Yeah," James agreed. "I am getting pretty tired. We need to get a good night's sleep before we go tree shopping."

"If you get me up before noon, I will make you regret it," Lily said as she walked into their bedroom. "Now hurry to bed."

* * *

James, having a sense of self-preservation, let Lily sleep as long as she wanted. He knew how grumpy she got when she didn't get enough sleep. As soon as she was awake, though, he was ready to go.

"I never knew someone to be so excited about something like a tree," Lily said. James was practically bouncing with excitement as they walked through trees looking at all the trees. They had been trudging through the snow for close to half an hour, and Lily was ready to go home, but she was enjoying watching James as he excitedly looked through the trees.

"I like plants," James said, smiling widely.

"And yet you became an Auror instead of a herbologist," Lily said. "I'm sure Professor Sprout would have loved to have you as an apprentice."

"Well, someone's got to do it," James said. "Besides, herbology is more of a hobby for me, not a career." He broke off what he was saying as he spotted a tree. It was just a sapling, probably a foot tall, but he knew as soon as he saw it that it was the tree he wanted. "That one," he said, pointing to it. "That's the tree I want."

Lily looked closely at the small tree, a silver fir according to the sign, and nodded. "I like it. Let's pay for it and get it home," she said. "Then we can have some hot cocoa."

"Yes," he said. "I'm going to make you the best hot cocoa you've ever had."

Lily smiled and kissed her husband. "I'm going to hold you to that."

* * *

After they had paid for the tree, they went home and planted it in the backyard. James, being James, decided that the exact middle of the yard was the perfect place for it. It was easily seen from the back door, and from the windows at the back side of their little cottage. True to his word, he also made Lily a cup of hot cocoa, and they sat curled up together on the couch, each holding a warm mug.

"This really is good cocoa," Lily said before taking a sip of the hot drink. "Where did you learn how to make it?"

"I had a lot of nightmares when I was a kid, just random childish nightmares," James said. "And every time I had one, my dad would make me hot chocolate. When I was older and I stopped having nightmares, he taught me how to make it, so one day I could make it to comfort my own child after a bad dream."

Lily smiled and looked up at her husband. "That's really sweet. You'll have to teach me how to make it, too."

James curled his arm tighter around Lily. "Of course," he said. "And then we can both make it for our child and for each other."

"It's perfect for freezing days like today," Lily said. "Especially after tree hunting."

James chuckled at her annoyed tone. "We probably could have waited until it was warmer before going out to get a new tree," he said. "But you were the one that said we could go today after you woke up."

"I'm regretting that," Lily replied with a shiver. "I feel like I'll never get warm."

James pulled Lily closer to him. "Well, at least we won't have to look for a Christmas tree next year, since we have one planted in our backyard."

Lily snorted. "Thank Merlin for small miracles."

James sighed. "It's such a nice little tree, it'll be a shame to cut it down."

"We can find another tree for next Christmas if you really want to," Lily said. It really was a nice tree, and she wasn't sure she wanted the cut the tree down either after all the time they spent choosing it. She knew that James was already in love with the small fir, and she didn't want all of his hard work to go to waste when it came time to cut the tree down. "Just make sure it is a fully grown tree, not a dead pine sapling."

James laughed and kissed the top of his wife's head. "Yes, Lily. I'll have Remus coral Sirius so he doesn't convince me to get another tree to annoy you."

"Or I could go with you to make sure we both like the tree," Lily suggested.

"Yeah, that could work," James said before taking a swig of his cocoa. "Shit, this is hot. I think I burned my tongue."

"Hot cocoa is hot," Lily said, rolling her eyes at her husband. "What a wild concept."

James glared playfully at her. "You are not a nice person."

Lily smiled up sweetly at the raven-haired man. "I never claimed to be."

"Well, I love you anyways, my mean little red-head," James said, kissing Lily on the top of her head. "Have since we were seventeen."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Since we were seventeen?"

"I've liked you since we were eleven, I've loved you since we were seventeen, and I'll still love you just as much when we're eighty," James said, smiling down at his wife.

Lily leaned up to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "I love you too, James Potter, and I'll love you for the rest of my life."

James didn't think he could smile any wider. "You sure know how to make a man happy."

"It's not that hard to make you happy," Lily said. "And I've had plenty of practice."

James took another swallow of his hot cocoa. "That is very true," he said. He looked out the window to the small tree outside. "You know, that really is a nice tree."

"Why the sudden subject change?" Lily asked.

James shrugged. "It's not really a subject change, you made me happy by letting me get the tree."

"I didn't really let you get the tree," Lily said. "You didn't need my permission to get a tree to plant in the backyard."

"Well, you gave me the idea to get a tree to plant in the backyard," James said, still smiling, but a softer smile now. "Anyways, it's a nice tree, it makes me happy, you make me happy, and life is going pretty good right now. I don't think it could get any better. I have a nice house, I'm married to the woman of my dreams, and I have the best friends a man could ask for."

"What's got you thinking about this?" Lily asked.

"I don't know," James said. "I'm just really happy. Not in a 'happy in this moment' way, though I am happy right now, in a 'happy in general' way. Life is just really great right now, you know what I mean?"

Lily smiled and nodded. "I do know what you mean, and I'm happy too. I'm sitting here drinking a cup of the best hot cocoa in the world, curled up with the best man in the world, and everything is just right. Nothing could ruin this moment."

"Not even a sad, pathetic little Christmas tree?" James asked, grinning cheekily.

Lily laughed softly. "Not even a sad, pathetic little Christmas tree. Right now, life is perfect."


End file.
